IPBES report sees climate, nature and food challenges interlinked

Climate change, nature loss, and food insecurity are all intricately linked, and dealing with them as separate issues won’t work, a major report has warned.

The review of scientific evidence by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that governments are underestimating or ignoring the links between five key areas – biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change.

This “siloed” approach has unintended consequences, such as damaging biodiversity through tree-planting schemes or polluting rivers while ramping up food production, the report said.

The latest assessment was approved by almost 150 countries meeting in Windhoek, Namibia.